Residence permit on humanitarian grounds for a member of Hazara minority

We are happy to announce that an Afghanistani client of ours to whom we provide legal and integration-related assistance has been allowed to stay in Poland on humanitarian grounds.

Our client has been in Poland since 2011. He has received negative decisions as part of several proceedings for granting him international protection and was to be deported in October 2018 under a decision obliging him to return to his home country which was issued 5 years ago. However, the situation in Afghanistan has become considerably worse in the meantime, particularly for people of the Hazara origin like our client.

In view of the Border Guard refusing to consent to deportation proceedings being halted, we asked the Polish Ombudsman to intervene, pointing out that our client, being of a Hazar, would be at risk of suffering major harm if he was returned to his country of origin. The Commanding Officer of the Border Guard, prompted to do so by the Ombudsman, initiated ex officio proceedings for granting a residence permit on humanitarian grounds and then granted the same to the foreigner in question, admitting that he would indeed be at risk of losing his life, freedom, or security if he were to be returned to Afghanistan.